Monday, May 31, 2010

Two of the options the companion book gives for this card is armed peace or energized by options. When we read the cards we read the pictures and I don't see those two visions at all.

I'm reminded by this card you could ask one hundred readers how this card applied to your life and other than the word decision you'd probably get one hundred different answers. I see this figure with one ear cocked, listening to outside sources, but for the most part pulled deep within herself, drawing on her own experiences and intellect. As it should be. Doing what someone else tell us all the times leads to a unsatisfied and unfulfilled self.

"Every decision is liberating, even if it leads to disaster. Otherwise, why do so many people walk upright and with open eyes into their misfortune." ~ Elias Canetti 1905-1994

Sunday, May 30, 2010

This figure has his tool and his orders, he faces the future ready for a quick start...and nothing is happening. I know the feeling well. I'm the person in class early with some of the project finished, who gets to sit and wait for the stragglers to mosey in and decide at that point if they even brought their tools.

I'm reminded by this card age has made my life a little easier. I had a work partner for six years who was always 15-20 minutes late every morning. The world didn't implode, she eventually caught up...or not... her clients seldom seemed to mind and it taught me that it all works out in the end. It's just life and money and both are finite; relax, breathe. It's alright.

The Llewellyn Tarot is my pick for this week, another of my top ten favorites, last blogged October 2007. Llewellyn Worldwide commissioned this deck to celebrate their 100th anniversary of publishing, and to honor the life and work of Llewellyn George who came to the US from Wales in 1901 and founded the business.

The deck features the stories of the Mabinogion and illustrates the beauty and stark grandeur that is Wales, then and now. Published 2006, softcover 264 page book and deck art by Anna-Marie Ferguson. This is another deck that I've embellished with paint and polish like the Anubis Oracle, you should see the cards gleam and glow in candlelight...

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Strength. This is a tarot card with a thousand faces, probably because there are a thousand ways to show strength in the course of a day and it can also be overshadowed by courage or power.

I'm reminded by this card there have been days when just getting up took all the strength and fortitude I could muster. And other days when I've fairly sprang from bed eager to tackle some of the biggest challenges in my life. Lord, let me not judge someone else's strength, I can't know what burden or needs they carry.

"There are two ways of exerting one's strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up." ~ Booker T. Washington 1856-1915

Friday, May 28, 2010

A nun begging for alms, carries a fly whisk as a reminder that all creatures deserve life.

I'm reminded by this card that my house is stuffed with food and what it cost us the past few weeks to get it that way. When we came back after living away for a year the cupboards were truly bare and we had some weird meals before we had time to top up things.I don't know where I'm going with this except it is a crying shame that going to the grocery and buying nutritious food costs more than going to the nearest fast food vendor. And the American butt and belly shows this disconnect between health and pocketbook.

Too many great quotes to limit to just one.Man Is What He Eats ~ LucretiusProcessed foods extend the shelf life, but they extend the waistline as well. ~ Karen SessionsDon’t dig your grave with your own knife and fork. ~ English ProverbHe that takes medicine and neglects diet wastes the skills of the physician. ~ Chinese proverbOur food should be our medicine and our medicine should be our food. ~ HippocratesThose who think they have no time or money for healthy eating, will sooner or later have to find time for illness. ~ Edward Stanley

Thursday, May 27, 2010

In Chinese mythology there were many suns and the earth was a heat blasted wasteland. Hon Yi was commissioned to shoot down all but one and his skill with the bow made Earth habitable.

Hon Yi was awarded the Emperor's daughter in marriage for his feat. She was less than impressed. When the Emperor, worried the suns would return one day, gave Hon Yi a immortality potion his wife stole and drank it. She became immortal all right, but now spends eternity on the Moon for her perfidy. I'm reminded by this card to be careful what I wish for, I just might get it.

"I am tired, beloved, of chafing my heart against the want of you; of squeezing it into little ink drops, and posting it. And I scald alone, here, under the fire of the great moon." ~ Amy Lowell 1874-1925

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

The star of longevity, Canopus, is represented by this elderly figure who holds the peaches of the tree that produces its fruit once every 3000 years. The stag is the conductor of souls in many beliefs and cranes represent faithfulness and long life.

I was reminded by this card to finally get around to taking a longevity test, this one from the University of Pennsylvania. My results:

Life Expectancy: 89.14

Lower Quartile : 82.44

Median Lifetime: 90.45

Upper Quartile : 97.01

More than 30 years ahead of me; I can live with that. One thing I've been working on is changing my favorite food from salt...it didn't do a thing for Nancy Crater (Star Trek 1966) and I'm sure it isn't doing much for me.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

I had an instructor once tell me that fear of success is what keeps most people from succeeding beyond their wildest dreams. I'm thinking that's probably the truth. Success = Change and most folks hate change because it is the unknown and their safe zone is where they want to be.

I'm reminded by this card how much I admire individuals who meet and exceed their goals, overcoming the odds, bouncing back for more, never saying never. Congratulations for walking away from the table of mediocrity.

"There is always a heavy demand for fresh mediocrity. In every generation the least cultivated taste has the largest appetite." ~ Paul Gauguin 1848-1903

Monday, May 24, 2010

The King wasn't speaking to me today so I drew a second card. Suddenly the King was shouting at me. MAKE A DECISION. FISH OR CUT BAIT. CRAP OR GET OFF THE POT. Do I want the Wheel to run me or do I want to run the wheel?

I want to run the Wheel, but the King points out that I'm having a little difficulty making decisions :) Ok, Ok, I get the message.

"The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers; you can act to change and control your life." ~ Amelia Earhart 1897-1937/39

Sunday, May 23, 2010

It is amazing what a difference it makes when someone gives moral support or lends a shoulder or hand toward what seems like a insurmountable task. Shortly the big immovable boulder in our life begins to shift.

I'm reminded by this card I am not alone. I don't know why sometimes I insist on busting my brain or back before I'll ask for assistance. Back to ego I suppose.

"I came upon a doctor who appeared in quite poor health.I said, 'There's nothing that I can do for you that you can't do for yourself.'He said, 'Oh yes you can. Just hold my hand.I think that that would help.'So I sat with him a while then I asked him how he felt.He said, 'I think I'm cured." ~ Bowl of Oranges, Conner Oberst 1980-

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Another indication of a journey. I came back to the farm yesterday for the first extended visit since my FIL died April 28. I've spent hours and hours sobbing, the first tears since he passed.

This Knight is a General, who stands upon one of his conquests. I don't see my care of Gene as a conquest, but certainly an experience that will color my life on many different levels until I finish my own journey.

"What people forget is a journey to nowhere starts with a single step, too." ~ Chuck Palahniuk 1961-

This deck is from US Games with art by Jui Guoliang. 1989, Out of print but still findable if you hunt. My personal opinion, the most beautiful Chinese deck of all.

Friday, May 21, 2010

This Knight is an experienced traveler. I was once headed in that direction, then one thing and another and suddenly I realize I've been nearly nowhere in the last 20 years. Pitiful.

I'm reminded by this card that for many years I dreamed of a long cruise. Mentally I could see myself sleeping on the deck, sleeping in a cabin bunk, sleeping through shipboard movies...you get the idea. And when awake seeing a whole lot of different places I'd not see on a driving vacation. I've since listen to stories of two couples who love doing all their traveling by cruise ship and now realize my opinion of cruises was nothing like the knowledgeable findings of my friends. Lots of words to say little...but points out how many of us view everything on the periphery of our lives, ideas vs facts.

"The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed, in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a wide-spread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible." ~ Bertrand Russell 1872-1970

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Snowbird: A person, usually retired, who flees the cold northern winters for warm southern climates. I've never known a Fairy to go to war and I believe they are vegetarians so what is the quiver of arrows for in the bleak landscape this snowbirder is passing through?

I'm reminded by this card of our own protective armor that we begin building from first hurt. I knew Rob's dad for 40 years, but the image I'm working hard to remember is from the last 6 months of his life. His face seemed totally different to me because his eyes no longer had that life-long guarded shielded look. How much pleasure and joy do we unknowlingly block out of our life with our carefully built personal weapons of mass deflection?

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

What leaps to mind with the word lucky? Money?Me too I'm sorry to say.Upon thought, I was/am incredibly lucky in love.It is sheer luck to be born, and I think I'm lucky to be born in the USA. I can only assume others feel the same way about their nation.Unlucky not to have a strong culture. If plucked up and dropped in Japan or Botswana what would I cling to, white sugar and white bread? Pffpft.Lucky to have a lively questing creative mind.Unlucky to have a personality that doesn't draw friends, lucky to have the great ones that I do.Lucky to have food shelter and health. One instant of bad luck can change all that.

I'm reminded by the oread nymph to respect and appreciate what I have and never take it for granted.

"What to do if you find yourself stuck in a crack in the ground underneath a giant boulder you can't move, with no hope of rescue. Consider how lucky you are that life has been good to you so far. Alternatively, if life hasn't been good to you so far, which given your current circumstances seems more likely, consider how lucky you are that it won't be troubling you much longer." ~ Douglas Adams 1952-2001

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

These little winged Chariot pullers haven't got a clue what they are doing or where they are going or why, but they all look determined to be the first one there. My two puppy-mill-dumped-off-in-the-woods Doxies look just the same every single time they go out the door.

I'm reminded by this card, because I've been thinking about the subject since yesterday afternoon, of all the times in my life I've done the same thing; jumped before looking, invested without thinking, agreed to something before my mind was engaged. The limb chipper. The Crocs stock. The Ipod. The full set of Sharpies. Now I'm jonesing for a grain mill because I have a King Arthur 500+ recipe whole grain cookbook...Let's see, what have I baked this year with grain? Erm, two batches of muffins and this is what, the fifth month of the year? Let's put someone in charge of the Chariot who knows where it's going please.

"I've been so blind, now I'm paying the cost;How can I find what was never lost?I've been in bed lying awake,I've been the taker with nothing to take.I've got not direction, no changing lanes;I'm driving blind, pushing through the pain." ~ Grace Potter 1974-

Monday, May 17, 2010

The image shows a bird who has tried to hide her nest, eggs, and baby. On the right is a fairy who is trying to cause mischief.

I'm reminded by this card of the balance needed; we can't hide from life, it will find us...but in going out to live it we also have to take care we don't intentionally upset someone else's balance.

"I regard our hiding as a dangerous adventure, romantic and interesting at the same time. I have made up my mind now to lead a different life from other girls and, later on, different from ordinary housewives. ~ Anne Frank 1929-1945

Sunday, May 16, 2010

This is the deck I used for my first week of card draws that were blogged in March 2007. According to my Blogger Dashboard I've made 1135 daily draw posts since then. What has spilled out of my keyboard has surprised me, shocked me, humbled me, made me cry or made me laugh, and often embarrasses me.

Learning about tarot was my 2006 learn something new task. 2007 was figuring out how to blog. My original intent was to make it an additional stream of income, linking it to my Ebay store, Amazon, direct sales, etc. I made and deleted a LOT of posts between January and March. Too hokey, too dull, too short, too long...nothing fired my mind or engaged my enthusiasm. I was about to give it up as a 'tried it didn't like it' project when writing in my daily draw journal in March I wondered if it wouldn't be easier to track my cards for reference if I put them in my blog. Eureka. I edited my December 2006 post and here we are at today where I begin again with my 'keeper' decks. The rest have gone to greener pastures with other people.

I receive so much from journaling my draws that I decided my blog (s) would be the one area of my life that was sacrosanct from lucre. I do this for me. If passers-by stumble on Quirkeries or KalamaQuilts and have a good laugh on me or with me all the better. I have nothing to hide from the world, what I really do here is expose myself to me.

The deck is The Fairy Tarot, published by Lo Scarabeo of Italy in 1997, distributed by Llewellyn in North America. This is a odd variant of the Rider-Waite tarot system. Although they labeled it tarot and it has 78 cards, many of them are far afield from the norm. The book often uses the term Oracle and all 12 of the spreads offered use the word Oracle. That's why I like it, and why many readers don't. The kit edition has a soft cover 157 page book is credited on the cover (shown on sidebar this week) Helene and Doris Saltarni but only Helen is credited in the book.

The majors were done by Antonio Lupatelli who has done many decks for Lo Scarabeo, the minors were pulled from the body of artwork left by Richard Doyle 1824-1883. Which explains why the images and meanings do not conform to the norm; there weren't many norms in the group. It makes for an interesting and enjoyable deck, if you like thinking outside the box. Which I do.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

The mist is beginning to rise and a new cycle of expanded opportunities await. Huddling in a hidey hole gains nothing except short term safety which costs plenty in the end.

So many cards since I've been back home this month have pointed to fresh new beginnings. We've paid off our mortgage and have zero consumer debt. That's a first for sure and was a long time coming. Rob has learned to use a computer while sitting at his dad's bedside thinking up sites to entertain him and is casting his net wide with resumes. I'm starting from the ground up, combing the house for unused items to fling into a neighborhood garage sale, a way of also cleaning my soul and psyche. I have the potential of 20 years, possibly 40 years to live. I don't want to do it sitting like lump in a chair or a barnacle on a boat saying ever so often "doesn't time fly".

Sedentary(a.) Accustomed to sit much or long.(b.) Inactive; motionless; sluggish.(c.) Remaining in one place, especially when firmly attached to some object; as, the oyster is a sedentary mollusk; the barnacles are sedentary crustaceans.

Friday, May 14, 2010

I drew Ma'at last Saturday also. Hey Cosmos, I'm working on it, I am, I am! Didn't I make a huge step yesterday at fresh balances?

I'm reminded by this card that making and keeping things right isn't a once a year task at a holiday, or if we have a wake up call, or if we can find the time...it's a daily job because it takes almost nothing to shift the balance between the heart and the ostrich feather. My heart is lighter today; perhaps not my attitude, but I'm pushing it in the right direction.

"This year, or this month, or, more likely, this very day, we have failed to practice ourselves the kind of behavior we expect from other people." ~ C.S. Lewis 1898-1963

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Fleeing daylight the bats return to their cave at dawn. Fleeing confrontation I've barely spoken to my MIL since the morning FIL died. She doesn't need the distress and I'm too tired to make whatever is wrong right.

I'm reminded by this card I still have the other half of my commitment to my in-laws to fulfill. I'm guessing for whatever reason we each think the other is the ass, but that is what assumptions do...time to start chinking away at stubbornness which is just an ugly form of ego.

"They were so strong in their beliefs that there came a time when it hardly mattered what exactly those beliefs were; they all fused into a single stubbornness." ~ Louise Erdrich 1954-

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

I've been part of teams over the years that flow so smoothly work was fun, and teams where someone was a real boat anchor and each day was a struggle to make any forward movement at all.

I'm reminded by this card that being a square peg in a round world doesn't mean I can't or won't be harnessed for the good of the whole. It is a pleasure and joy to be a contributor in a smoothly functioning team.

"It is not a question of how well each process works, the question is how well they all work together." ~ Lloyd Dobens 1936-

Monday, May 10, 2010

I can see a mother buffalo teaching her calf three things. There are dangerous or scary life situations that have to be tackled not ignored, With forethought, teamwork, courage, we can do it; and there is always the other side where we can look back and be amazed we did it or surprised that we were hesitant in the first place.

I'm reminded by this card that in my youth my mother taught me many things which run seamlessly through my days without end.

"If you wait to do everything until you're sure it's right, you'll probably never do much of anything." ~ Winston Borden 1944-

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Represented by a male lion and the Tibetan goddess Tara, this Strength says we have the ability to navigate difficult waters and cross to the other side.

I'm reminded by this card of the times in my life when I've been completely overwhelmed by too much bad news too fast, or for too long. I have my faith, and I have a great support system, but there have been at least two times I've considered taking the cowards way out. I do hope I've now enough equilibrium to carry me through whatever comes in life to never again consider that dark alternative.

New week, new deck, one I've had for some years and never used once. Not the deck's fault, I've just discovered over time it is difficult for me to read animal decks. Published by Llewellyn in 2005, art and book by Lisa Hunt.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Ma'at is the deity of Justice and Truth. When we die, before our soul can go east/west/up/down the scale holds our heart on one side, the ostrich feather on the other. Do they balance? I can't imagine that any human that has spent more than a year on earth would ever balance. And to make it harder, these authors would have me understand that redemption of our heart lies in self-love and self-acceptance.

I'm reminded by this card self-love and self-acceptance are something we are born with which we and the world around us shortly start stripping away. If we remove the pressures, temptations, and questionable role models of the world from the picture we give ourselves a clearer and higher path to follow. For someone else's opinion of us is a useless and hopeless guide. So is trying to compare ourselves to someone else. It is when we weigh our own heart and begin to lighten it we finally find the route to true self-justice.

'"Justice is conscience, not a personal conscience but the conscience of the whole of humanity. Those who clearly recognize the voice of their own conscience usually recognize also the voice of justice." ~ Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn 1918-2008

Friday, May 7, 2010

The Ibis represents the suit of Air in this deck. Air from whence all life comes. It boggles when you stop to mentally digest how much air there is and how many times it has been breathed in by the eons of people before us, breathed out, and scrubbed clean by green plants and trees. Do my trees get triple time for scrubbing the air for those who live at sea and in the desert? Have I breathed the same particles as Ramses? Or the cow abuser down the street? Does it matter?

I'm reminded by this card that air also represents intellect. That miracle that lets us type, read, and drink coffee at the same time; build computers that use the Ethernet so we can communicate instantly with someone or many ones all over the planet. The miracle that allows us to decide who love and hate, how to feed us, how to create something so beautiful it knocks the socks off the viewer.

Rob and I have a saying when we can't see something right dead in front of us. "What do you think that is, Air Pie"? You'd be surprised, or maybe not, how many times that sentence comes up. Sometimes our intellect is missing and maybe sometimes that can be a blessing.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Foundations. The great pyramids were already ancient when Tutankhamun ruled Egypt 4000 years ago. Their groundwork and plans were solidly based, and each new layer maintained the same thoughtfulness and care, leaving us a legacy that astounds and inspires still.

As I enter a new phase of my life I'm reminded by this card to put the same kind of foundation under me as I move forward. I haven't got so many years left that I can make some huge financial mistake and recover from it.

Be careful what you wish for, you might get it

Don't bite off more than you can chew

Build in haste, repent in leisure

I don't know why I feel such urgency to move forward, and I'm sick of spending my life being plagued by cautionary roadblocks.

"When Thomas Edison worked late into the night on the electric light, he had to do it by gas lamp or candle. I'm sure it made the work seem that much more urgent." ~ George Carlin 1937-2008

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Two people have hurt me to the bone this year. I'm past the rage toward the first and am just numb. The second, I'm past the shock and am just bewildered. This card invites me to get beyond those feelings and make a clean start.

Some things take longer than others, I'm in no way ready to make a reconciliation, my brain hasn't even fully accepted that this big a rift has occurred. But I'm reminded by this card to beware the terrible trap of nurturing and renewing open wounds. As Dr. Phil would say, "how's that workin' for ya?"...because whatever my action, I'm getting something from it. Right now it is bitter fruit indeed.

"The continuance and frequent fits of anger produce in the soul a propensity to be angry; which oftentimes ends in choler, bitterness, and moronity." ~ Henry Ward Beecher 1813-1887

Monday, May 3, 2010

This deck is unerringly on target this week, Khepera pushes the sun above the horizon each morning; a new dawn like no other, yet within an endless cycle.

Called forth to action I'm on the prowl, pushing ideas around my mind, reaching outside the box for the right fit for such a square peg as I.

"There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost." ~ Martha Graham 1894-1991

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Fresh beginnings, new ideas coming down the track. Unexplored territory, unexpected opportunities, if I am willing to open up.

Many of the small parts of my life are small because I don't have the trust and faith in myself necessary to carry off something big. Crazy. If I can't or won't trust myself this late in life, when will I? Time to go for broke when that new brain bomb goes off this time. I've been feeling the tickle for weeks and ignoring it, no need to do that now, I'm free.

"If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there." ~ Lewis Carroll 1831-1898

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Hanged Man, A position I volunteered for the last two years and 24/7 since last May has come to an end. I'm home again home again jiggidy jig. I have a scanner! I have a printer! I have my own bed! I have a full size toilet and a full size shower! My fifth wheel is beautiful, I love it, and it served us well, but I'm home!

I'm reminded by this card the Hanged Man position is always a voluntary one which offers an incredible richness of internal benefit. When you cut off your life you are left with yourself...

"It is those who have a deep and real inner life who are best able to deal with the irritating details of outer life." ~ Evelyn Underhill 1875-1941

A fresh start, with the beautiful Anubis Oracle; 35 cards illustrated by Kris Waldherr, 166 page soft cover book written by Nicki Scully and Linda Star Wolf. Kudos to Bear & Co. publishers for the Slipcase box, book, and cards of excellent quality, 2008. I mention the quality because so often we look forward to decks only to find shoddy quality in the actual production. You never see that with Bear & Co.

Why Cards, you ask?

The cards open previously closed doors to my own heart with their merciless quest for the truth, nothing but the truth. They flay the soul and make me say thank you afterward.Each hour spent with my cards is a new lesson to be learned. Viva la Journey.